Thoughts on Turning 29

Turning Hope Thoughts Into Goal-Directed Behavior

well-being might result. Similarly, insofar as perceiving the good things in one's life as the result of the intentional benevolence of another person or persons makes those benefits even more enjoyable, it is easy to imagine how one might be happier and healthier as a result. Obviously, much of daily life occurs without conscious control and without a second thought. Nonetheless, some people m...

Turning me on, turning me off

Interactive graphics are an effective way of communication and information delivery, especially for complex domains. However, domain experts are rarely aware of the potentials of interactive visual displays and which interaction principles can be in charge for communication and teaching purposes. In this paper we extend a pattern language for interactive information graphics and present four pa...

Thoughts on Social Design

Thoughts on the Bulletin.

Because daguerreotype photographs are usually reversed laterally from actuality, images of W.T.G. Morton falsely suggest that he sometimes changed the side of the part in his hair. Because of daguerreotype image reversal, a statue of Apollo in the Ether Dome at the Massachusetts General Hospital appears to have been moved for the 50th anniversary of Ether Day. Ether anesthesia was announced in ...

Thoughts on scale

I begin with a metaphor to characterize the challenges that authors and readers face when confronting issues of scale. Consider the ways that map makers use insets—devices that allow for a focus on particular areas, while situating those areas within the larger whole. The use of insets allows for characterizations at two orders of grain size. Now imagine a map of the world containing four inset...